Dorie Graham - Tempting Adam

She’d dreamed of this. The dream still clung as she faced him, his eyes brimming with hot interest.

She hadn’t been mistaken. He wanted her. He was her secret admirer.

Lauren squeezed off a bite of egg. Cupping one hand to catch the sauce, she held it to his lips.

His gaze never left hers as he chewed slowly. “Eggs Benedict has never tasted this good.”

Spatters of sauce dotted her hand, but before she could wipe them, he brought her hand to his lips. “Allow me.” With deft strokes, he licked the drips.

Her heart quickened with every stroke of his tongue, filling her with desire. “You have a bit…” She leaned forward to skim her lips along the corner of his mouth. She flicked her tongue to capture the sauce.

He angled his head and pressed his mouth to hers. Time stood still as he opened to her. Her breasts pressed against his chest. She shifted on his lap, stirring that part of him that had filled her dream with pleasure. Heat spiraled through her. He skimmed his hands up her sides, as his tongue stroked hers with an intensity that sparked a hunger she had never known.

Adam pulled back slightly. “Lauren, I really want you.”

Dear Reader,

It’s a thrill for me to be able to share my stories with you. I love the latitude Blaze gives writers and readers in exploring the hotter side of romance. Thanks to all of you who have helped to grow this line. I hope it’ll be with us for a very long time.

I brainstorm using a technique I’ve stolen from Orville Redenbacher. I gather together all my ideas, then sift through them until I’m left with only the biggest kernels. The premise of a headstrong workaholic seducing her laid-back best friend when she mistakes him for her secret admirer was one such kernel. Add in an erotic cookbook and we have Blaze magic.

When Lauren Bryant lets friends and family—and perhaps her own secret desires—convince her that her best friend, Adam Morely, is the man behind the anonymous romantic gifts she’s receiving, she decides to take their relationship to the next level. Adam, on the hunt for a serious relationship for the first time in his life, finds her too tempting to resist. Once he tastes Lauren’s forbidden fruit, he embarks on a mission to steer her toward hearth and home, a place she hasn’t visited since their days of playing house together.

I hope you enjoy their journey toward compromise. It was certainly a pleasure to write.

Happy reading,

Dorie Graham

P.S.—Don’t forget to check out www.tryblaze.com!

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To my girls,

Jessie, Lauren and Lindsey,

for loving me and sacrificing their “special times,”

even though they might not have understood

their mother’s strange obsession.

I love you.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

“I NEED A WIFE.”

Lauren Bryant tore her attention from the advertising contract she’d been studying. Putting aside her worries over her company’s solvency, she focused on Adam Morely, her best friend. She smiled, drawing comfort from his familiar presence.

Then his words registered. She cocked her head. “Excuse me?”

He dropped neatly into the chair facing her desk. Long hours outdoors had burnished his dark hair and etched premature crow’s-feet beside his gray eyes. An earnest light glittered in those eyes. “I said, I need a wife.”

Trying to shake off the inexplicable sense of panic that swept over her, she quipped, “Don’t we all?”

“I’m serious. Taxes are killing me. It just doesn’t pay to be single. Besides…” He shrugged. “I need…more out of life.”

“More?” She set down her pen and raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

Exasperating man.

“This from the guy who has it all—a successful business, a gorgeous new home and a different woman for every day of the week?” she said.

He straightened, a deep groove forming between his eyebrows. “You’re exaggerating.”

“Okay, a different woman for every month. Same thing.”

“Exactly.”

She continued to stare, anger filling her. How dare he not be satisfied? She’d give anything for half his success.

“They’re all the same. One relationship after the other. Meaningless. Empty.”

“So, you’re tired of mindless sex.”

“I’d like a relationship that carries a little weight. Like what you and I have, only with the sex thrown in.”

“I see.”

For some ridiculous reason his words triggered outrage in her. Not that she’d ever thought of him in a sexual manner. From the time Adam’s family had moved in next door to hers some twenty years ago, the two of them had shared an uncommon bond. With his parents’ constant absences, she and Adam had grown up together, conquering their quiet neighborhood in Roswell, Georgia, a suburb of metro-Atlanta.

He drew a quick breath. “Not that there’s anything wrong with what we have. It’s special, no doubt, but, well…it isn’t like we get naked together.”

“True.”

With an effort, she reined in her irrational emotions. Why was she getting upset? They had a great relationship. It was comfortable, convenient. But, no, they’d definitely never been naked together, not unless she counted that time when they were very young.

“You don’t have to get married to have a meaningful relationship,” she said.

“But if I find the right woman, I’ll want to hang on to her.”

“Sure.” Her stomach tightened.

Needing a distraction, she glanced down at the contract. “Look, I’m going to have to break our lunch date. I have to get this deal finalized, then we’re meeting with the Bennett Bagel people.”

She allowed herself the smallest glimmer of hope. “They’re thinking maybe some local TV exposure will help the opening of their new sandwich shops. I’ve already scoped this new actor who spreads mayo like it’s foreplay.”

His gaze narrowed on her. “Only you could make hawking bagels a sensual experience.”

“Food is always sensual. Besides, you know it’s not me. Entice Advertising does it. Elliot’s the one with all that creative talent. We’d go belly-up without him.”

Adam nodded toward a vase on her desk filled with a rainbow bouquet of condoms. “Need spice, think Entice.”

“That’s it.”

She quirked her mouth to one side. Her partner’s preference for other men hadn’t hindered their fledgling agency in earning a reputation for using sex better than anyone else to sell their odd range of clients and products to the general population. In fact, Elliot came up with all the provocative campaigns, while Lauren spent her energies rounding up clients, keeping the books straight and feeling a little like an impostor for not being the sexy siren others assumed her to be.